Suarez baffled by goal-line technology

Honduras' Colombian coach was not impressed by Fifa's system in his side's World Cup defeat to France

16.06.2014 09:33:33

Honduras coach Luis Suarez had no arguments with his side's 3-0 defeat to France in their World Cup opener - but cut a frustrated figure at the manner of Les Bleus' second goal.
Honduras were a goal and a man down when the incident arrived and although there was little prospect of a comeback it did not ease the irritation for the 54-year-old.
His ire stemmed from confusion surrounding Fifa's goal-line technology system, which initially signalled no goal on the big screen when Karim Benzema's cushioned volley came back off the post.
But the ball then ran along the line before being pushed over by bungling Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares.
The referee correctly awarded the goal even though those inside the stadium in Porto Alegre had not seen an image of the Valladares mistake.
It led to Suarez and his France counterpart Didier Deschamps engaging in a lively debate on the touchline.
Suarez said afterwards: "I wasn’t upset because the goal was given, but because it wasn’t given in the first place.
"The second decision allowed the goal, the first one didn’t. If the machine says one thing first, and then another after, then what’s the truth?”
Honduras' defeat was partly self-inflicted with Wilson Palacios sent-off in the first half for two senseless challenges, the second of which enabled Benzema to put France ahead from the penalty spot.
Suarez said of the Stoke midfielder: "I have no disappointment over him. That’s football, he committed a foul, and added a second yellow to the one he had, there’s no discussion to add.
"That’s the risk we take, sometimes you get a red card, sometimes you play well, play bad… there’s no need to be upset about these kind of things."
Suarez admitted the better side had won with Benzema, in particular, causing his side all sorts of problems.
“It was a match we failed to control throughout the 90 minutes," he said.
"France were superior to us, there are some aspects we’ll have to improve on for the next match.
"It’s hard to keep focused when you’re outnumbered, against a quality opponent like France, but that’s football.
“We could’ve had better luck today, but it got really difficult once Wilson was dismissed.”